University of California Los Angeles

UCLA is excited to welcome Dr. Justin McManus as associate director of bands and director of athletic bands, effective July 1, 2025. We thank Ken Fisher, who remains associate director of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, for his stewardship of the ensemble over the past few years.

Recent highlights for the UCLA Wind Ensemble include John Mackey's Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band in May 2025 and Antique Violences (with faculty soloist Jens Lindemann) in November 2025, a collaborative performance of La Fiesta Mexicana with Mariachi de Uclatlán in February 2025, and a program celebrating Korean and Korean American voices (with works by Koh Chang-su, Travis J. Cross, Kang Han-moi, Janet Song Kim, and Minoo Dixon) in June 2025.

Our guest clinician for the 2025 UCLA Wind Conducting Workshop was Mallory Thompson, and we look forward to an all-Big Ten roster of guest clinicians (reprising 2018) in June 2026: Donald McKinney, Robert Taylor, and Emily Threinen.